Happy...Festivus?
As we've learned from Seinfeld and our culture, most anyone can create their own version of a holiday. The very name holiday comes from HOLY day. Today many of our "holidays" aren't holy days, but at least one still should be.

Why do so many seem to have a problem with the "Christmas" designation of this day?
Changing a word here or there doesn't really have any effect on the intended meaning now does it? The cause for celebration and what it has become around this holy day has subtly moved the focus away from what it was intended to be. Lest Martin Luther King day become " good men for causes" day, and Memorial Day becomes "let's have a day off, but not talk about why" day...
Christmas is about a singular thing. Without that singular thing, none of the other things would matter much.
Remember the story?

"Unto you this day, is born a savior...Christ The Lord."
Giving consideration to all holy days (even Festivus?)...this day exists on our calendars as the celebration of Christ's birth.
Merry Christmas.

Just pondering a bit of ancient wisdom...
from a letter written long ago to the Galatians.
This letter happens to have a Chapter 6 and verse 9 and 10 for following along.
"Let us not grow weary in well-doing. For in due season
we shall reap if we faint not. So while we have the opportunity
let us do good to all men..."

Not only do I sign many of my books with that verse but it holds a special meaning for me in the way I live my life. It's one of my signature verses. What's yours?
What do your signatures say about you your life? About your work?
And where do you look for wisdom?

Here's to becoming a better student in the New Year.
To finding wisdom.
And to the opportunity to do good...to all.
Michael

Tonight I was an NBA coach...
if only for a few minutes.

In my city, at our new downtown arena, in the lockeroom,
with million-dollar talent.
A small group of professional basketball players came to a pre-game session on life. And I had the unique opportunity of speaking to them about things like courage and leadership and living on purpose. The oldest couldn't have been much more than 26.

They didn't look like TV stars or NBA stars or Movie stars...just young adults looking for the same answers you and I (and our sons and daughters) are looking for.
My message? Big is available! Go for it. Be strong and courageous in becoming uncommon in your life as well as in your work. (Feel free to use that if you find yourself coaching some young talent in the near future)

Best part is, they really seemed to listen...and care.
I love this game!
Michael

It's official: I'm Thankful!
We all have something to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

I've got a long list, which I won't bore you with here...
that's sort of like asking someone, "Hey, wanna' see my home movies?"
But I do encourage you to make your own list. I mean actually think about it and write it down.
It's common to focus on the bad, and the things we lack or what's not going just right in our lives.
Uncommon to give thanks.

Hmmm...which group do we want to be in?
Happy Thanksgiving.
Michael

Many years ago in Little Rock there was an AM radio station that was "all speakers-all the time." It was billed as THE MOTIVATION STATION! I loved it and listened to it regularly.
Zig Ziglar, Lou Heckler, Jay Conrad Levinson, Earl Nightingale, and more. It was the equivalent of a "classic rock" station on speaking giants. Nothing but the hits. It was alas, ahead of its time and eventually switched to moravian country or some other obscure format.
But now, thanks to modern technology happening every minute...you or I can create our very own personal motivation station at www.createaway.com

Its a collection of authors, speakers, experts, and up & comers who have tons of audio (and video) at the touch of a button. As humbly as I can, I will admit to being one of the aforementioned talkers with content captured for your listening pleasure.
Instruction and inspiration...for you, FOR FREE.
Design your own personal "motivation station" or just surf and sample.
After all, we could all use another positive voice in our lives, right?

Should you wish to go straight to MY channel, here's the link...
http://www.createaway.com/tellq/speaker_page.php?speaker_id=76

Reno & Tahoe.
I'm in Reno for a speaking event over the next couple days,
but arriving a day early allows us time to drive through Carson City
and take in the view of the ocean in the sky that is Lake Tahoe.

We see red hawks play in the Sierra breezes
and watch out for the bear crossings as we climb to over 7400 feet.
Tahoe has a blue all it's own with a stunning mountain backdrop
thrown in for good measure.

Autumn hasn't quite fallen on the Carolinas yet,
but it is in full bloom here in the Sierra Nevadas.
The tall timber is dotted with stands of maple
with brilliant gold and fiery orange colors.
The drive around the lake is a prelude to our golf outing
for the afternoon.

Since the famous Edgewood course,
home of the big TV celebrity tourneys is closed for the season,
we settle into a slightly lower elevation at Genoa Lakes.
Fantastic sights, mountain golf, and a great day to "practice slowing."

Send me your emails on how you enjoy "slowing" to
leader@michaelyork.com

Until then, hope your practicing makes you better at s l o w i n g.
Michael

I spoke for a little girl and her family today.
At what most of us would call a funeral.
But what must be, if we believe what we say we believe,
a celebration of her new life.

As much as we all seem to feel the need to be sad-
today there is a joy that a little girl is free from the cancer
that kept her a prisoner for the past several months.
She's free from pain and hospitals and surgeries...
and she's left her mark on this life and those of us
who have been touched by her courage and her smile.

Tonight there must be quite the celebration in Heaven for Miranda.
Her message to us: This is Life. Live it NOW!
Thanks Miranda.

Dear Diary...
I've written in blank books, journals, for over 16 years now.
And I've never written those words.
It's not a DIARY, you don't have to write in it every day. But as one of my greatest teachers once taught me... "Something's happened in your life in the past year that's worth writing down!

Having lunch today with my daughter reminds me again why writing in a journal is such a powerful thing. She breaks out her journals and reads me things she wrote over a year ago. "They've almost all come true," she tells me with excitment. My daughter is 22 and continues to take notes and set goals for her life. She is becoming a good student.

How "noteworthy" is your family or your work or your life?
Then why not take some notes in YOUR journal?
You'll be glad you did, and one day you'll wish you'd started sooner.

Michael

How Do We Measure Success?
As a man, it's most often discussed in terms of work or business or results or money.
This past weekend I spoke at a men's conference at Southbrook (my church in Charlotte)
on Success That Really Matters!

I'm reminded of the measuring stick God uses from the song
"Measure of a Man" by 4 Him.
The unit of measure?

"I say the measure of a man, is not how tall you stand,
how wealthy or intelligent you are...
But what's in the heart defines the measure of a man."

How true.
What a great time with 50 or so men who have a desire to make a difference.

After watching her path for days, even weeks, Katrina blasted the gulf coast last month.
New Orleans, Gulfport, Biloxi, and many other areas devastated. It's an almost unthinkable amount of damage. But maybe the most damaging thing is how the news media...and I use that term loosely, covers news in this day and time.

I was a part of the media for many years so I have some equity in that medium.
Yesterday, largely because of the sensationalism and scare tactics broadcast almost non-stop there was a gas panic in my city and many others around the country. Lines grow long, prices soar, and supplies are wiped out in a day. It is a crisis caused largely by consumer panic and the behavior it produces. Supply and demand re-define what is "normal." A gallon of gas tops $4 here for maybe the first time ever.

I refuse to buy gas, even though I'm almost empty, but I know it's a temporary condition.
So sad to see how the average person lines up like sheep in fear and panic causing the very condition they fear the most.

p.s. within a couple of days the supplies are back to normal, prices soon follow, and a week later a gallon of gas is actually less than it was before the panic.
Meanwhile "the media" continues to rage out of control over-hyping and crying wolf at every turn.